Indian hot-rolled coil (HRC) imports into the EU-27 rose by 30.6pc on year in April to 159,893t, according to trade data.
Indian volumes were at their highest level since October 2021, when it sold almost 268,000t into the bloc. India has been aggressive on price in recent months, given pressure from competitive Chinese imports.
Overall, the EU-27 imported 836,936t of HRC in April, down by 5.4pc from the same month last year but up by over 47pc from 569,058t this March. The monthly increase was driven by firm demand over December-February, as service centres replenished their inventories after almost six months of low apparent demand. But the material arrived just as the market started to quieten. Imports were around 14pc of overall EU HRC market supply in April, according to Argus calculations.
Japan was the third-largest seller into the EU, with its volumes up by 51.2pc on year at 94,194t. Japan provided a smaller proportion of overall EU HRC imports in April compared with recent months, at 11.25pc. It had 15pc share in March, 13pc in February and 28pc in January.
There was a big jump in imports from Indonesia, which is listed as a developing country for HRC under the European safeguard, meaning it is exempt. It shipped 59,545t into the bloc in April, which was more than the previous 10 months combined. Indonesia has been increasingly competitive of late in price terms, but has a more limited product offering than other exporters.
Egypt was the second-largest importer into the EU in April, sending 99,655t. This was up by 158pc on the year, giving it almost 12pc of the overall import market — its highest share since October 2021. This represented the fourth consecutive month of positive import growth into the EU by Egypt.
Turkish volumes were down by over 60pc on year, at 70,627t, but increased on month to their highest since October. China's aggressive exporting and Turkey's higher costs and dumping duties mean that the latter has struggled to compete with Asian bulk exporters in recent months.
